Best Sideshow Sound Radio Podcasts (2025)

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Score Guide – Casper (1995) 1:40:03

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1d ago1:40:03

1:40:03

In this heartwarming Score Guide finale for spooky season, Wend and Will revisit James Horner’s beloved score for Casper (1995). They’ll explore how Horner weaves together hauntingly beautiful melodies, tender emotion, and spectral playfulness to bring this ghostly tale to life. From the film’s ethereal emotional beats to its bittersweet finale, th…

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Score Guide – Casper (1995)

1d ago

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In this heartwarming Score Guide finale for spooky season, Wend and Will revisit James Horner’s beloved score for Casper (1995). They’ll explore how Horner weaves together hauntingly beautiful melodies, tender emotion, and spectral playfulness to bring this ghostly tale to life. From the film’s ethereal emotional beats to its bittersweet finale, th…

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Richard Linklater on His Two New Films, “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague” 21:11

1d ago21:11

21:11

Richard Linklater is one of the most admired directors working today, and yet moviegoers may admire him for very different things. There are early comedies such as “Slacker” and “Dazed and Confused”; there’s the romance trilogy that started with “Before Sunrise,” starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy; and the crowd-pleasers like “School of Rock” and…

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How the Trump Administration Made Higher Education a Target 29:26

5d ago29:26

29:26

The swiftness and severity with which the Trump Administration has tried to impose its will on higher education came as a shock to many, not least university presidents and faculties from Harvard to U.C.L.A. But for conservatives this arena of cultural conflict has been a long time coming. The staff writer Emma Green has been speaking with influent…

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John Carpenter Picks Three Favorite Film Scores 12:25

8d ago12:25

12:25

The filmmaker John Carpenter has a whole shelf of cult classics: “They Live,” “The Thing,” “Escape from New York,” “Halloween,” and so many more. And while he hasn’t directed a new movie in more than a decade, Carpenter has continued working in the film industry, composing scores for other directors (Bong Joon Ho recently approached him about a hor…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #16 – Dies Irae: The Leitmotif of Death 50:55

8d ago50:55

50:55

The Dies Irae — it’s one of the most recognizable melodies in history, and it’s haunted our screens for generations. In this episode of The Sideshow Theme Show, Lasse and Will trace the journey of this ancient requiem chant through film, TV, and beyond. From classical roots to blockbuster reinventions, the duo unpacks how the Dies Irae continues to…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #16 – Dies Irae: The Leitmotif of Death

8d ago

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The Dies Irae — it’s one of the most recognizable melodies in history, and it’s haunted our screens for generations. In this episode of The Sideshow Theme Show, Lasse and Will trace the journey of this ancient requiem chant through film, TV, and beyond. From classical roots to blockbuster reinventions, the duo unpacks how the Dies Irae continues to…

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Zohran Mamdani Says He's Ready for Donald Trump 48:19

12d ago48:19

48:19

Next month, New York City may elect as its next mayor a man who was pretty much unknown to the broader public a year ago. Zohran Mamdan, who is currently thirty-three years old and a member of the State Assembly, is a democratic socialist who won a primary upset against the current mayor, Eric Adams, and the former governor Andrew Cuomo, who was tr…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #15 – You’ll Float Too! 36:06

15d ago36:06

36:06

Spooky season continues on The Sideshow Theme Show! This week, hosts Will and Lasse take a closer look at one of the creepiest uses of a children’s chant in modern horror: Benjamin Wallfisch’s treatment of the old English nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” in the IT film series. We explore the history of the rhyme itself, its unsettling connection …

1
The Sideshow Theme Show #15 – You’ll Float Too!

15d ago

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Spooky season continues on The Sideshow Theme Show! This week, hosts Will and Lasse take a closer look at one of the creepiest uses of a children’s chant in modern horror: Benjamin Wallfisch’s treatment of the old English nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” in the IT film series. We explore the history of the rhyme itself, its unsettling connection …

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How Lionel Richie Mastered the Love Song 30:41

15d ago30:41

30:41

By WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

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A Conservative Professor on How to Fix Campus Culture 26:02

19d ago26:02

26:02

Robert P. George is not a passive observer of the proverbial culture wars; he’s been a very active participant. As a Catholic legal scholar and philosopher at Princeton University, he was an influential opponent of Roe v. Wade and same-sex marriage, receiving a Presidential medal from President George W. Bush. George decries the “decadence” of secu…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #14 – They Will Never Stop Hunting You 34:18

22d ago34:18

34:18

Spooky season marches on, and this week Will and Lasse descend into the darkness of Middle-earth to face one of Howard Shore’s most chilling creations: the Ringwraith (Nazgûl) theme from The Lord of the Rings. The hosts unravel how Shore conjures terror through ritualistic choirs, dissonant pitch cells, and heavy orchestration, turning the Nine int…

1
The Sideshow Theme Show #14 – They Will Never Stop Hunting You

22d ago

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Spooky season marches on, and this week Will and Lasse descend into the darkness of Middle-earth to face one of Howard Shore’s most chilling creations: the Ringwraith (Nazgûl) theme from The Lord of the Rings. The hosts unravel how Shore conjures terror through ritualistic choirs, dissonant pitch cells, and heavy orchestration, turning the Nine int…

1
Jimmy Kimmel and the Power of Public Pressure 43:58

22d ago43:58

43:58

The Political Scene’s Washington Roundtable—the staff writers Jane Mayer, Susan Glasser, and Evan Osnos—discuss how, in the wake of the reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel’s show, public resistance has a chance to turn the tide against autocratic impulses in today’s politics. They are joined by Hardy Merriman, an expert on the history and practice of civ…

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Ezra Klein’s Big-Tent Vision of the Democratic Party 50:02

26d ago50:02

50:02

The author and podcaster Ezra Klein may be only forty-one years old, but he’s been part of the political-culture conversation for a long time. He was a blogger, then a Washington Post columnist and editor, a co-founder of Vox, and is now a writer and podcast host for the New York Times. He’s also the co-author of the recent best-selling book “Abund…

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The Cartoonist Liana Finck Picks Three Favorite Children’s Books 11:38

29d ago11:38

11:38

Liana Finck is a cartoonist and an illustrator who has contributed to The New Yorker since 2015. She is the author of several books, including the graphic memoir “Passing for Human.” Like many of her forebears at the magazine, Finck has also published works for children, and her recent book, “Mixed Feelings,” explores the ways that emotions are oft…

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Track Swap Halloween Special: Favorite Spooky Tunes 1:12:26

29d ago1:12:26

1:12:26

n this special episode of Track Swap, Sideshow Sound Radio co-host Will Dodson joins Lasse Vogt to talk about some of their favorite spooky themes and tracks from Films, TV Shows and Video Games. Come along and celebrate the Halloween Season as well, with music by selected composers Howard Shore, Bear McCreary, Jerry Goldsmith, Benjamin Wallfisch, …

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Track Swap Halloween Special: Favorite Spooky Tunes

29d ago

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n this special episode of Track Swap, Sideshow Sound Radio co-host Will Dodson joins Lasse Vogt to talk about some of their favorite spooky themes and tracks from Films, TV Shows and Video Games. Come along and celebrate the Halloween Season as well, with music by selected composers Howard Shore, Bear McCreary, Jerry Goldsmith, Benjamin Wallfisch, …

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Is The 2026 Election Already in Danger? 37:32

1M ago37:32

37:32

“The Constitution gives the states the power to set the time, place, and manner of elections,” the election lawyer Marc Elias points out. “It gives the President no [such] power.” Yet, almost one year before the midterms, Donald Trump has called for a nationwide prohibition on mail-in voting, an option favored by Democrats, as well as restrictions …

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Kevin Young on His Book “Night Watch,” Inspired by Death and Dante 17:39

1M ago17:39

17:39

Kevin Young is the poetry editor for The New Yorker, and the author of many books of his own poetry. His newest work, “Night Watch,” focusses on death, while also drawing upon his wide view of history, from the end of slavery in the U.S. to Dante’s seven-hundred-year-old poem “The Divine Comedy.” Young tells David Remnick that Dante actually played…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #13 – Something Wicked This Way Comes 36:36

1M ago36:36

36:36

Something wicked this way comes! In this week’s episode, Will and Lasse shine a spotlight on one of John Williams’ most enchanting creations for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: the choral spell Double Trouble. They’ll explore how Williams adapted Shakespeare’s Macbeth witches’ chant into a mischievous, medieval-flavored theme, why it capt…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #13 – Something Wicked This Way Comes

1M ago

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Something wicked this way comes! In this week’s episode, Will and Lasse shine a spotlight on one of John Williams’ most enchanting creations for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: the choral spell Double Trouble. They’ll explore how Williams adapted Shakespeare’s Macbeth witches’ chant into a mischievous, medieval-flavored theme, why it capt…

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How the “Dangerous Gimmick” of the Two-State Solution Ended in Disaster 38:27

1M ago38:27

38:27

For decades, the United States backed efforts to achieve a two-state solution—in which Israel would exist side by side with the Palestinian state, with both states recognizing each other’s claim to contested territory. The veteran negotiators Hussein Agha, representing Palestine, and Robert Malley, an American diplomat, played instrumental roles in…

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Jeff Tweedy on His New Triple Album, “Twilight Override” 28:27

1M ago28:27

28:27

Jeff Tweedy is best known as the front man of Wilco, the rock band he formed in Chicago in 1994. In recent years, he’s been working more often as a solo artist, putting out records under his own name as well as a memoir and essays on songwriting. Amanda Petrusich sat down with the singer-songwriter to talk about “Twilight Override,” which comes out…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #12 – Stabby Strings

1M ago

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This week – on the Spooky Season debut of The Sideshow Theme Show, Will and Lasse dive headfirst into one of the most iconic pieces of film music ever written: Bernard Herrmann’s “Prelude” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. We talk about how Herrmann’s bold choice to score Hitchcock’s thriller entirely with strings created a sound world that was stark…

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The Sideshow Theme Show #12 – Stabby Strings 36:07

1M ago36:07

36:07

This week – on the Spooky Season debut of The Sideshow Theme Show, Will and Lasse dive headfirst into one of the most iconic pieces of film music ever written: Bernard Herrmann’s “Prelude” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. We talk about how Herrmann’s bold choice to score Hitchcock’s thriller entirely with strings created a sound world that was stark…

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Anna Wintour Embraces a New Era at Vogue 39:30

2M ago39:30

39:30

Speculation, analysis, and commentary circulated all summer, after the announcement, in June, that Anna Wintour would step back from her role as the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. This changing of the guard is uniquely fraught, because Wintour’s name has become nearly inextricable from the magazine, to a degree almost unknown today. And, as New…

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Fred Armisen on “100 Sound Effects” 18:11

2M ago18:11

18:11

The comedian Fred Armisen has a thing for sound. He’s a former punk musician and a master of accents, and he is now releasing a new album of sound effects. “I was lamenting that there aren’t sound-effects albums in our lives as much,” he tells Michael Schulman. “I feel like they just used to exist more or they were more present. . . . And instead o…

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Score Guide – Hocus Pocus (1993)

2M ago

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Sideshow Sound Radio is back for a brand-new season — and we’re kicking things off in true Halloween style! Join your hosts Wend and Will as they light the Black Flame Candle and dive broom-first into John Debney’s bewitching score for Hocus Pocus. From its mischievous motifs and spooky orchestrations to its heartwarming magic, we’ll guide you thro…

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Score Guide – Hocus Pocus (1993) 2:29:50

2M ago2:29:50

2:29:50

Sideshow Sound Radio is back for a brand-new season — and we’re kicking things off in true Halloween style! Join your hosts Wend and Will as they light the Black Flame Candle and dive broom-first into John Debney’s bewitching score for Hocus Pocus. From its mischievous motifs and spooky orchestrations to its heartwarming magic, we’ll guide you thro…

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Donald Trump’s War on Culture Is Not a Sideshow 31:56

2M ago31:56

31:56

The term “culture wars” is most often associated with issues of sexuality, race, religion, and gender. But, as recent months have made plain, when Donald Trump refers to the culture wars, he also means the arts. He fired the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which Republicans want to rename for him. His Administration fir…

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How Extreme Heat Affects the Body 17:17

2M ago17:17

17:17

The Korey Stringer Institute, at the University of Connecticut, is named after an N.F.L. player who died of exertional heatstroke. The lab’s main research subjects have been athletes, members of the military, and laborers. But, with the extreme heat wrought by climate change, even mild exertion will put more and more of us in harm’s way; in many pa…

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How Big Tech Sets the Agenda in Trump’s America 32:43

2M ago32:43

32:43

Donald Trump is the most tech-friendly President in American history. He enlisted social media to win office; he became a promoter—and beneficiary—of cryptocurrency, breaking long-standing norms around conflicts of interest; and, in his second term, he brought Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest tech baron, to the White House, to disrupt the federal …

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A Palestinian Journalist Escapes Death in Gaza 26:43

2M ago26:43

26:43

Mohammed R. Mhawish was living in Gaza City during Israel’s invasion, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attack. He witnessed the invasion for months and reported on its devastating consequences for Al Jazeera, The Nation, and other outlets. After his home was targeted in an Israeli strike, which nearly killed him, he fled Gaza. In The N…

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Spike Lee and Denzel Washington on a Reunion Making “Highest 2 Lowest” 23:58

2M ago23:58

23:58

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington first worked together on “Mo’ Better Blues,” released in 1990. Washington starred as a trumpet player trying to make a living in jazz clubs; Lee, who directed the film, also played the musician’s hapless manager. They later worked together on “Malcolm X” and other films, but it has been nearly twenty years since thei…

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Richard Brody Picks Three Favorite Clint Eastwood Films 16:16

2M ago16:16

16:16

With seven decades in film and television, Clint Eastwood is undeniably a Hollywood institution. Emerging first as a star in Westerns, then as the embattled cop in the Dirty Harry films, the ninety-five-year-old filmmaker has directed forty features and appeared in more than sixty. The film critic Richard Brody just reviewed a new biography of East…

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Your Questions Answered: Trump vs. the Rule of Law 34:14

3M ago34:14

34:14

From the attempt to end birthright citizenship to the gutting of congressionally authorized agencies, the Trump Administration has created an enormous number of legal controversies. The Radio Hour asked for listeners’ questions about President Trump and the courts. To answer them, David Remnick speaks with two regular contributors: Ruth Marcus, who…

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Jamaica Kincaid on “Putting Myself Together” 25:53

3M ago25:53

25:53

Jamaica Kincaid began writing for The New Yorker in 1974, reporting about life in the magazine’s home city. She was a young immigrant from Antigua, then a British colony; she had been sent to New York—against her wishes—to work as a nanny. Soon began a love affair with New York’s literary scene. “I had to change my name,” she tells David Remnick, “…

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John Brennan, Former C.I.A. Director, on Being Targeted by Trump 26:49

3M ago26:49

26:49

In Donald Trump’s first term, he was furious that people were investigating his connections to Russia—“Russia, Russia, Russia,” he complained. Now, as Trump fulfills a campaign promise of retribution, his Administration has put the Russia “hoax” back into the headlines. They claim to have opened investigations into the former F.B.I. director James …

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Dexter Filkins on Drones and the Future of Warfare 21:47

3M ago21:47

21:47

Since the end of the Cold War, most Americans have taken U.S. military supremacy for granted. We can no longer afford to do so, according to reporting by the staff writer Dexter Filkins. China has developed advanced weapons that rival or surpass America’s; and at the same time, drone warfare has fundamentally changed calculations of the battlefield…

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Mayor Karen Bass on Marines in Los Angeles 29:02

3M ago29:02

29:02

The city of Los Angeles has declared itself a sanctuary city, where local authorities do not share information with federal immigration enforcement. But L.A.—where nearly forty per cent of residents are foreign-born—became ground zero for controversial arrests and deportations by ICE. The Trump Administration deployed marines and the National Guard…

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Director Ari Aster Explains His COVID-Era Western “Eddington” 25:17

3M ago25:17

25:17

“I’m personally desperate for art that at least attempts to grapple with whatever the hell is going on right now,” the writer-director Ari Aster tells Adam Howard, a senior producer of the Radio Hour. “ ‘Eddington’ is a film about a bunch of people who . . . know that something’s wrong. They just—nobody can agree on what that thing is.” Many of us …

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Michael Wolff on MAGA’s Revolt Over Jeffrey Epstein 26:29

3M ago26:29

26:29

The sense that the White House is covering something up about Jeffrey Epstein has led to backlash from some of Trump’s most ardent supporters. Even after the financier was convicted for hiring an underage prostitute, for which he served a brief and extraordinarily lenient sentence, Epstein remained a playboy, a top political donor, and a very good …

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Carrie Brownstein on Cat Power. Plus, “Materialists,” “Too Much,” and the Modern Rom-Com. 1:00:46

3M ago1:00:46

1:00:46

For The New Yorker’s series Takes, Carrie Brownstein—the co-creator of Sleater-Kinney and “Portlandia”—writes about an iconic rock-and-roll image. In the summer of 2003, the musician Chan Marshall, better known as Cat Power, was transitioning from an indie darling to a major rock artist, and the staff writer Hilton Als wrote a Profile of her in The…

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Janet Yellen on the Danger of a “Banana Republic” Economy. Plus, Susan B. Glasser on Why “We Are the Boiled Frog.” 38:14

3M ago38:14

38:14

In conservative economics, cuts to social services are often seen as necessary to shrink the expanding deficit. Donald Trump’s budget bill is something altogether different: it cuts Medicaid while slashing tax rates for the wealthiest Americans, adding $6 trillion to the national debt, according to the Cato Institute. Janet Yellen, a former Treasur…

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Kalief Browder: A Decade Later 18:17

4M ago18:17

18:17

Kalief Browder was jailed at Rikers Island at the age of sixteen; he spent three years locked up without ever being convicted of a crime, and much of that time was spent in solitary confinement. In 2014, the New Yorker staff writer Jennifer Gonnerman wrote about Browder and the failings of the criminal-justice system that his case exposed: unconsci…

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U2’s Bono on the Power of Music 31:32

4M ago31:32

31:32

In 2022, The New Yorker published a personal history about growing up in Ireland during the nineteen-sixties and seventies. It covers the interfaith marriage of the author’s parents, which was unusual in Dublin; his mother’s early death; and finding his calling in music. The author was Bono, for more than forty years the lyricist and lead singer of…

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“Super Gay Poems” 15:08

4M ago15:08

15:08

In 2024, Harvard University offered a course on Taylor Swift. It was popular, to say the least. That course was taught by a professor and literary critic named Stephanie Burt. In The New Yorker, Burt has written seriously about comics and science fiction, but she’s also considered great poets such as Seamus Heaney and Mary Oliver. Now, Burt has put…

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Bret Baier On Trump’s Love-Hate Relationship with Fox News 34:54

4M ago34:54

34:54

The relationship between Fox News and Donald Trump is not just close; it can be profoundly influential. Trump frequently responds to segments in real time online—even to complain about a poll he doesn’t like. He has tapped the network for nearly two dozen roles within his Administration—including the current Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, a fo…